ACT Legislative Assembly: Greens push for teens’ vote

The Greens will introduce a bill to the ACT Legislative Assembly for mandatory voting for Canberrans aged 16 and up. What do you think? Have your say in our poll.

Canberrans aged 16 and over could be voting at an election near you.

The ACT Greens tabled a bill in the ACT Legislative Assembly on Thursday to allow younger voters in the territory election.

Greens MLAs Jonathan Davis and Andrew Braddock tabled the bill, which would make it compulsory for Canberrans aged 16 and over to vote in ACT elections.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday Mr Davis said democracy in the ACT “is stronger when more people get a say in the ballot box”.

“Young people will be disproportionately burdened with the decisions parliamentarians make today, be it the climate crisis or the housing affordability crisis,” he said.

“Young people will inherit the outcomes of those decisions (and) they deserve to be represented in the vote.

Greens MLA Jonathan Davis says 16 and 17 year old Canberrans can take on the responsibility of voting. Picture: Julia Kanapathippillai

Mr Davis said due to the Hare-Clarke Entrenchment Act it wouldn’t be possible to make voting voluntary for 16 and 17 year olds.

This means if the bill is passed teenagers who fail to vote would face a fine.

Currently people who fail to vote are fined $20 dollars.

Mr Davis said his bill would push for the fine to reduced to $10 for 16 and 17-year-olds who fail to vote.

When asked if lowering the voting age to 16 would also allow teenagers to run for office, Mr Davis said he hadn’t given this aspect a lot of thought and it was up to an inquiry into the bill to determine.

“I think most people would appreciate running for office and subsequently serving for office is a much greater responsibility than casting a ballot,” he said.

“I wouldn’t recommend a 16 or 17 year old to run necessarily.”

Mr Davis said young people can “handle this responsibility” of voting despite some apathetic attitudes towards politics among some teens.

“I know every single member of the Legislative Assembly owes their seat to the unpaid labour of somebody under the age of 18 … whether they’re wearing a red shirt, a blue shirt or a green shirt,” he said

“Young people are the back bone of all of Canberra’s political parties.”

An ACT Government spokesman said the Labor-led government “recognises the value in engaging young people in the political process”.

“The Government will consider the proposal to lower the voting age within the context of compulsory voting, taking into account the issues raised in the recent Electoral Committee report,” the spokesman said.

“This will need to examine both legislative and administrative reforms that may be needed to enable young people’s participation in voting.”

The Canberra Liberals were contacted for comment.